deseruerit An hac amicitiae jus c. ut nunc ego à vobis audio Merc. being taken for reproach and harsh dealing and so the meaning is made out with a kind of admiration thus Should reproaches be cast upon a man that is afflicted from his friend should he be told that he hath forsaken the fear of the Almighty and that wisdome is driven from him Do you think I am not able to discover your dealings should you go about to reproach me in this condition should you tell me thus harshly that I am departed from the fear of God Is this thinke you a fair carriage towards me when you saw me melted and afflicted you should have given me sweet and comfortable words not reproachfull words Job according to this sence sound his friends dealing with him as the Jews with Christ to whom being a thirst they gave vinegar to drink Or as David in the type speaks they gave me gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink here seems to be a like meaning You have given me reproaches in stead of comforts slandered me instead of refreshing me and is this the course you should take As Absalom said to Hushai 2 Sam. 16. 17. Is this thy kindnesse to thy friend when he seemed to fall away from David unto him So Iob might speak to Eliphaz Is this thy kindnesle to thy friend to load him with reproaches when you see him over-laden with afflictions A fourth thus Shall he that consumes by the reproaches of his friend forsake the fear of the Almighty The meaning whereof is this Doe Qui tabescit ab amico suo proâ—ro etiam timorem omnipotentis retinquet Foelices soli videntur sapere miseri desipere you think that all men whose riches and comforts are lost have lost their reason and judgement And doe you think that they who are reproacht by men doe not fear God The world commonly judges none wise but they that are rich And that they fear God most who rejoyce most But my practise and example I doubt not shall consute that opinion and give all the world to know that a man consumed and spent by the reproaches of men and the stroakes of God may yet fear God and keep up his stock to the full in holinesse and in wisdom Contabescens charitatem non tam dicitur erga guem socij charitas contabescit quam quuÌ„ per sociâ— charitatem preposter ram fcilicet sine scientia exercitam contabescit Cocc Fifthly This melting is referred not to the pitty of his friends but to Job melting or consuming by that which they called pity Thus. Shall he be charged to have forsaken the fear of the Almighty who consumes by the charity of his friends that is who is more afflicted by the counsels which his friends in love give him then by all his other afflictions As the mercies of the wicked are alwayes cruel Prov. 12. 10. So sometime the mercies of the godly are especially when they give preposterous and indiscreet counsel and this interpretation suites well with the title which Iob gave his friends Miserable comforters are ye all Chap. 16. 2. That is you have done your good will to comfort me but God hath not shewed you the way nor given you the tongue of the learned that yee might know how to minister a word in season to him that is weary and so notwithstanding all your good intentions ye have added to my miseries A sixth thus * Hunc dissolutum prae doloribus ab amico ejus exhibenda misericordia dereliquit eundem dissolutum timor Saddai dere inquit Horum duorum versiculorum terminos ita digerimus ut in posteriori vâ—x dissolutus sit mascu ini generis accusativi casus â—egaturque à verbo dere inquit cujus duo nominativi sint misericordia timor Saddai ille verò dissolutâ—s sit Job loquente de seipso in tertia persona Apparet ex hoc explâ—atione â—um nominativo ut in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa 31. 1. Ezr. 1. 5 Coc. Dissoluto à socio ejus benignitas est sc impendenda alioqui timorem Omnipotentis deserit Drus Vau apud Hebraeos varie sumitur interdum pro a ioqui That pity which friends should shew this man melted with afflictions hath forsaken him but hath the fear of the Almighty forsaken him also The meaning whereof may be made out to this effect As if Job had said thus You plainly see that there is no help in me for my pains and uncessant troubles have quite bereaved me of all that strength upon which I should naturally subsist And as for you my friends that pitty and compassion which you should afford a man thus melted with sorrows is quite fled and gone from your hearts and lips But what then Is the fear of God departed also from this sorrowful soul It is confessed strength is gone from my body and I see pitty towards me is gone from your soules O how miserable then were I if I should goe from my God and forsake his fear You shall see that though the pitty of men hath forsaken me a melted man yet as you object the fear of God hath not A seventh reading varying from ours only in a word gives the sence very fair and easie * to him that is afflicted or melted pitty should be shewed by his friend otherwise he forsakes the fear of the Almighty Whereas we say but he forsaketh this translation saith Otherwise he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty that is if a man do not shew pitty to his friend in affliction that man sheweth that he hath forsaken the fear of the Almighty Thus as I hinted at the entrance of this passage Interpreters are much divided about the Grammatical construction of these words There is a truth in every sence given and their variety may teach us to adore the fulness of the holy language which leads our thoughts so many wayes as also to be humbled for our own blindness of mind and narrowness of heart to see or comprehend the mind of God fairly written to us But I take the last to be the clearest meaning of Job in this passage and that to which most of the former are reducible and therefore staying upon this sence I shall give two or three observations from it First It is the common duty of friends and the speciall duty of godly friends to pitty and help one another in affliction I say to pitty and to help for that is the compasse of the word we have not done our duty in pittying the distressed unless we come to real assisting them We satisfie not our obligation to the bond and Law of love by giving comfortable words As that faith which is alone without works doth not justifie us so that pitty which is alone without works doth not justifie our faith such empty pitty will goe for little better then cruelty and not
AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations CONTINUED Upon the Fourth Fifth Sixth and Seventh Chapters of the BOOK OF JOB Being the substance of XXXV Lectures delivered at Magnus near the Bridge London By JOSEPH CARYL Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolnes Inne JAMES Chap. 1. Ver. 2 3 4. My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience But let patience her perfect worke that ye may be perfect and intire wanting nothing LONDON Printed for L. Fawne L. Lloyd and M. Simmons 1656. To the Christian READER TO Those chiefly of this CITY who have been the Moovers and are the Promoters of this Worke. Sirs YOur continued care and labor of love engages a like degree of both for the growth of this Infant worke And therefore though in the midst of manifold diversions these peeces are ventur'd out We live in an Age O that we could live it wherein the hand of Providence works gloriously yea terribly Having then got three or foure steps further into this Book of Providence it will not be unseasonable to shew you the Prints of them Especially seeing this History of Jobs affliction looks so like a prophecy of ours and almost in every line gives us some lineament of our present troubles and distempers of our hopes and feares In the three former Chapters we had a Narrative of the case and of those occurrences out of which the Question here debated receives it's state As also the bringing together of the Interlocutors or persons maintaining this Discourse As we may alwayes observe in the writings of the Ancients whether Naturall Morall or Divine which are composed into Dialogues or Disputes This great Divinity act one of the greatest surely and most solemn I thinke the first that ever was held out in such a formality in the world is principally spent upon that noble probleme How the justice and goodnesse of God can be salved while his providence distributes good to the evill and evill to the good A Question started and toucht in many books of the holy Scriptures but is here ex professo purposely handled First in a very long Disputation between Job the Respondent and his three Friends Opponents Then in a full determination first by Elihu an acute and wise then by God himselfe the most wise and infallible Moderator The Method here observed is after the manner of the Schooles pro and contra every one of the foure disputants having his severall opinion and each one his arguments in favour of his own Which yet are not presented in that affected plainness of the Schoolmen with their down-right videtur quod sic probatur quodnon This I affirm this I prove this I deny this disprove The pen-men of the holy Ghost never discuss Questions so no nor any of the old Philosophers This Covert carriage of their opinions and close contexture of their arguments Answers and Replies about them render the Booke somewhat dark and obscure to the Readers meditation And therefore it will be a designe not unprofitable if that end offer'd at may be attained briefly to draw them forth and set them before you in a more open light And doublesse what they hold and by what mediums they mannage their proofs may by the blessing of God upon serious thoughts and frequent reviews be made out to a very great plainnesse Towards which it is observable that there are many threeds of the same colour and substance mixt and interwoven by the Disputants throughout this whole Discourse And that though the three Opponents with one consent set up Job as their common mark to shoot at yet they take up very different standings if not different levels varying each from other in some things as well as all upon the main from him The reason of the former is this because there are some common principles wherein they all agree which if we abstract with what is spoken in the illustration of them taking in also those conclusions which springs from them as their first borne Then the remainder will shew us that proper distinctive opinion which each of them holds about this grand Question of providence the events distributions wherof seeme so cross-handed in giving trouble and sorrow to godly men joy and prosperity to the wicked There are three principles wherein Job concurs with his three friends and a fourth wherin they three concur against him The three wherein all foure agree are these First That all the afflictions and calamities which befall man fall within the eye and certain knowledge of God Secondly That God is the Author and efficient cause the orderer and disposer of all those afflictions and calamities Thirdly That in regard of his most holy Majesty and unquestionable Soveraignty he neither doth nor can doe any wrong or injury to any of his creatures whatsoever affliction he laies or how long soever he is pleased to continue it upon them These three principles and such conclusions as are immediately deducible from them are copiously handled and insisted upon by them all In persuance wherof they all speak very glorious things of the Power Wisdom Justice Holines Soveraignty of the Lord. In proclaiming every of which Attributes the tongue of Job like a silver Trumpet lifts up the name of God so high that he seems to drown the sound of the other three makes their praise almost silent But Jobs three friends proceed to a fourth principle which He utterly denies about which so much of his answer as is contradictory to their objections rejoynders wholly consists That their fourth principle seems to be bottom'd upon two grounds First That whosoever is good and doth good shall receive a present good reward according to the measure of the good he hath done and That whosoever is wicked and doth wickedly shall be paid with present punishment according to the measure of his demerits Seondly That if at any time a wicked man flourish in outward prosperity yet his flourishing is very momentany and suddenly in this life turnes to or ends in visible judgements And That if at any time a godly man be wither'd with adversity yet his withering is very short and suddenly in this life turnes to or ends in visible blessings Vpon these two grounds or suppositions They raise and build their fourth principle from which They three make continuall batteries upon the innocency of Job We may conceive the position in this frame That whosoever is greatly afflicted and is held long under the pressure of his affliction that man is to be numbred with the wicked though no other evidence or witnesse appeare or speak a word against him Hence The peculiar opinion of Eliphaz rises thus That all the outward evils which over-take man in the course of this life are the proseeds of his own sin and so from the processe of Gods justice He gives us this sence for his in expresse termes Chap. 4. 8. They
catechized or instructed servants The word signifies to train in the Principles of Religion as well as in the postures of war being the same used in the Book of Proverbs for teaching a childe the first elements of holy knowledge And that place of Genesis may very well comprehend both Fourthly observe That charity especially spirituall charity is very liberall and open-hearted Job instructed not onely his owne but he instructed others he instructed many he did not confine his doctrine and his advice to his own walls but the sound thereof went wheresoever he went he instructed many And if Job who had no special no direct calling to it were a teacher of many what shall we think of those whose calling and businesse it is to teach and yet teach not any at all their trade their profession is to teach yet they are so far from teaching many that they teach none and which is worse they hinder teaching they stop the mouth of the teacher and if they can the eare of the learner they take away the key of knowledge They neither open the doore themselves nor suffer those that would This is the very spirit of wickedness And blessed be God whose mighty power hath so graciously cast out and dispossest so many places of the Kingdome of these wicked spirits Further taking those other parts of his instruction as they respect persons afflicted who are here described by weak hands and feeble knees ready to fall unable to stand Observe first That sore afflictions doe exceedingly indispose for duty Sore afflictions make weak hands and feeble knees the weake hand and the feeble knee are as I said before emblems of one unfit for any businesse unfit to work unfit to walk when the hand is weak and the knee is feeble what is a man fit for Great sufferings unfit us for action Hence it is that the Lord moderates the afflictions of his people sweetens the bitternesse and takes off the oppressing weight of them God promiseth to come Isa 57. 16. with reviving and that he will not contend for ever with his people Why A principle Reason is Lest their spirits should fail before me and the soules which I have made Lest the spirits should faile that is lest they should faile in their duties the spirit cannot faile in the essence of it the spirit is of an eternall constitution but it faileth in the duty often And if afflictions lie too hard and too long upon a people their spirits fail their faith fails their courage failes their labours cannot be laborious to carry on and carry out their work Therefore when Job saw any under afflictions he endeavour'd to put courage into their hearts and so strength into their hands Secondly In the generall we may note further That the words of the wise have a mighty power strength and prevalence in them You see how efficatious the words of Job were Jobs instructions were strengthuings thou hast strengthned the weak hands and feeble knees his words were as stays to hold them up that were ready to fall Eliphaz doth not only say thou didst instruct many in instructing thou didst intend it was thy design and aime to strengthen the weak hands but he speaks of what Job had effected wrought thy words put sinews into the hands and knees of men that were weak and ready to fall thy words were as props to hold and bear up the spirits of those that were sinking Words wisely dispensed and followed with the blessing of God what can they not doe God doth the greatest things in the World by a word speaking as at the first he made the world it selfe by a word speaking so he hath done the greatest things and wrought the greatest changes in the World by a word speaking When a word goes forth cloathed with the authority and power of God it works wonders How hath it raised up sinking spirits how hath it made the fearfull undaunted and the weak-hearted couragious God by his word in the mouth of a weak man overthrows the strong holds of sinne and by a word brings every thought of man into subjection to Jesus 2 Cor. 10. 4. 5 Christ By a word he stops the mouth of blasphemy and evill speaking by a word speaking he makes a man deny himselfe by a word he opens the eyes of the blinde and makes the lame to run and leap like a Hart in the way of holinesse And I could wish that the word which I now speak might through the blessing of God have such an effect upon your spirits O that it might strengthen all weak hands and feeble knees O that it might uphold all who are ready to fall we are cast upon knee-feebling hand-weakning yea heart-weakning times the sight of those things which our eyes do see and the hearing of those things which our ears do heare cause many to fear and the spirits of some to fall Now a word invested with commission from God to go and comfort will master all our sorrowes and dispell all these fears If the Lord breathe upon a word that word will breathe lively activity into a very carkasse Look to those many and gracious promises made to those that mourne and comfort will flow in Promises are the treasures of comfort promises hold the Churches stock they are the patrimony of beleivers it is their priviledge and their honour to be called heirs of the promise While Heb. 6. 17. Christ and the Promise lives how can Faith dye or languish eying a promise So much of the first branch of the minor Proposition in the third and fourth Verses The second branch lies in the fifth Verse Now it is come upon thee and thou faintest it toucheth thee and thou art troubled Thou hast instructed many thou hast strengthned the weak hands c. but now it is come upon thee c. That is trouble and affliction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lassus fuit corpore vel animo prae lassitudine nescivit quid ageret are come upon thee And thou faintest The word signifies an extraordinary fainting when a man is so wearied and spent that he knowes not what he doth when his reason seemes tired as much as his strength So that the words Now it is come upon thee thou faintest may import thus much thou art in such a case that thou seemest to be besides thy selfe thou knowest not what thou doest thou speakest thou knowest not what The word is translated in the first Verse by grieved in other Scriptures by mad and furious Prov 26. 18. As a mad-man who casteth fire-brands c. And whereas we say Gen. 47. 13. the land of Egypt fainted by reason of the famine many render it the land of Egypt was inraged or mad because of In sanivit terra Egypti nan propter famem nimiam insanit homo Furebat terra i. e. tumultuabantur anno quinto famis mentem illâ—s adimente sane Jun. in loc the famine want of bread
notwithstanding all these shakings Would not thy feare be thy confidence It would Hence observe First That they who feare most in times of peace have most reason Timidum esse ad â—ala patrandâ— genus est fortitudinis fiduciae to be confident in times of trouble They who feare most in one sense feare least they who feare God most feare creatures least and creature-troubles least We have this point in so many words Prov. 14. 26. In the feare of the Lord is strong confidence The feare of the Lord is the cure of all other feares They who are most fearefull of the evill of sinne are most couragious among the evills of suffering To be fearefull thus raiseth the highest acts of confidence Psal 112. 7 8. We reade of one that will not be afraid for any evill tidings his heart is fixed Who is this confident man this fearelesse man It is this divine coward as we may call him you shall finde him so express'd vers 1. Blessed is the man that feareth God he shall not be afraid for any evill tidings Exod. 20. 20. When the people of Israel were much amazed and astonished at the giving of the Law Moses comes to cure them of that feare but what is the medicine Feare not for God is come to prove you and that his feare may be before your faces that ye sinne not As if he had said when God hath put his feare into your hearts such feares as these will be removed and vanish when your hearts are filled with this feare of God you will have confidence to heare and see the thunder and lightning of Mount Sinai you shall not feare no not this terrible tempest in which the Law it selfe is given So when the people were in a feare another time Samuel thus bespeakes them in that shaking fit 1 Sam. 12. 20. Feare not onely feare the Lord. If you will be confident in such a time as this for by prayer he procured thunder and raine in that time of wheate-harvest feare the Lord. The feare of the Lord will be our confidence in the wettest day in the most tempestuous and stormy night that ever fell upon the secure sinfull world A man fearing God is the onely dread-nought Secondly We may observe from the other branch for the sense is the same And would not thy uprightnesse be thy hope The uprightnesse of a mans wayes in good times doth mightily strengthen his hope in evill times When a man can looke back and approve his heart to God that he hath been upright in peace and plenty how full of hope will he be in trouble and in wants It was that which Hezekiah pleaded before God in the day of his trouble and tryall 2 King 20. 3. I beseech thee O Lord remember how I have walked before thee in truth and with an upright and perfect heart This was it when he lay upon his sick-bed and as he thought upon his death-bed that put life into him and bare up his spirit A fourth interpretatian is taken from our reading Is not this thy feare thy confidence the uprightnesse of thy wayes and thy hope So the words containe foure distinct affrming Questions Is not this thy feare Is not this thy confidence Is not this the uprightnesse of thy wayes and is not this thy hope This is thy feare c. As if Eliphaz had said Job without doubt thou hast shewed all thy goodnesse at once or Is not this all that thou art able to make out and shew Is not this all that thou canst say for all the testimony thou canst give of thy religion and holinesse Hast thou not shewed all Surely thy great boast of Religion is nothing but this Eliphaz seemes to call Job to make a further or cleerer proofe of his grace Is not this thy feare or if this be not shew me somewhat else Thou art a man very famous in the world much talked of and highly commended for feare and for confidence for uprightnesse and for hope what hast thou more to answer that report and save thy own credit with the credit of thy friends who have been so large in their commendations of and testimonies concerning thee Note hence First Afflictions discover that unto us which before we knew not Is not this thy feare thou diddest not know of what make or constitution thy feare was untill now That 's Eliphaz his supposition and it is a truth That some hypocrites know not that their graces are false till they are brought to such tryals They carry false counterfeit coine about them and suppose it currant money till they come to the ballance or a touch-stone Some are active hypocrites who go about intentionally to deceive and put a faire mask over a filthy face Others are passive hypocrites who are miserably deceived by the collusions of Satan and the base treachery of their own spirits Many a man is brought to see which before he could not by reason of those mists of hypocrisie what his feare is what his faith by those changes which affliction works in him Secondly thus We ought to make our graces visible in our actions Is not this thy feare Shew me what thy feare is if this be not make proofe of it The Apostle bids Timothy 2 Tim. 4. 5. Make full proofe of his Ministery It may be said to some Ministers is not this your Ministery if it be not make full proofe of it Or as the Apostle James in a case neere this James 2. 14. 18. Shew me thy faith by thy workes so we may say Shew me thy feare by thy workes Is not this it if it be not make it appeare what it is The tree is knowne by the fruits doe men gather grapes of thornes or figgs of thistles or doe men gather crabs from vines or sloes from figg-trees As an evill tree cannot bring forth good fruit so neither doth a good tree bring forth evill fruit If thou sayest thou art a vine make proofe of it by the fruit thou bearest or else I must conclude thou art but a thorne or a thistle We may question many for this grace and for the other grace they pretend unto For their actions have not the least print or impression of such graces upon them If any one should hold forth much faith and confidence in God and this man should run or take unlawfull courses to helpe himselfe might we not say Is this thy confidence Or if one speaking much of confidence in God for the accomplishing of a businesse should yet sit still and doe nothing himselfe might we not say Is this thy confidence this is to tempt God not to trust in him Once more if a man should professe much confidence in God and yet be taken up altogether about the creature swallowed up with creature-thoughts or swallowing in creature-delights seeking to and engaging this creature and that creature with neglect of God may we not say Is this thy confidence Hope is an anchor of
ever perished nor were the righteous ever cut off And Eliphaz conceiveth this to be so clear a truth that he challengeth Job to give one instance to the contrary out of his own experience he appeals to experience which is a strong way of arguing Remember I pray thee who ever perished being innocent shew me the man and withall he professeth that he could give many instances or examples out of his own experience that wicked men have perished and were cut off this he doth in the eighth Verse Even as I have seen they that plough iniquity and sow wickednesse reap the same which he inlarges in the three following Verses by the blast of God they perish and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed c. This in generall for the summe and substance of the Argument We will now consider the words and examine the strength of it in particulars Remember I pray thee He handleth Job tenderly in words he speaks gently and winningly to him Remember I pray thee To remember noteth often in Scripture a serious consideration of things present and before us Eccles 12. 1. Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth that is seriously bethink thy selfe at the present of God and his wayes and how thou oughtest to walk holily before him But properly to remember is the calling to minde of things which are past and so Eliphaz in this place directs Job to search the Records Goe and inquire into all the Monuments of Antiquity look the Registers and Histories of the Ages past and see if thou canst finde any such thing as this A righteous man perishing Memory is the soules store-house there we lay up Observations and from thence fetch them out as occasions invite Hence Christ Matth. 12. 57. compareth every Scribe which is instructed for the kingdome of Heaven to a house-holder which bringeth forth out of his treasury things both new and old This treasury is the memory there holy truths and profitable examples are stored and reserved Remember I pray thee In that Eliphaz sendeth Job back to former experiences we may note That it is our duty to lay up and record the dealings of God whether publick or personall whether with the godly or with the wicked It is our duty to observe what God doth Psal 111. 4. He hath made his wonderfull works to be remembred as if the Psalmist had said God hath not wrought such great things in the world whether respecting persons or Nations that we should write them upon the water or in the sand which the next puffe of winde defaces and blowes out but he hath made his wonderfull workes to be remembred hee will have them written in brasse with a pen of Iron and with the point of a Diamond that all ages may heare the judgements and loving kindnesses of the Lord he hath made his wonderfull workes to be remembred or he hath made them so as that they are most worthy to be remembred David was a great observer of experiences Psal 31. 35. he telleth us that he had as it were collected notes concerning Gods dealings all his dayes and it is to the very point in hand I have been young and now am old yet never saw I the righteous forsaken himselfe carefully observed the dealing of God in this Psalme and in the next Psal 37 35 36. he gives the like direction to others thus I have done doe you take the same course too I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himselfe like a green Bay-tree then he goes on Mark the perfect man and behold the upright I have considered the estate of wicked men let all observe the estate of the godly Mark the perfect man and behold the upright The works of God expound his Word in his works his Word is often made visible That 's an excellent expression Psal 111. 7. The works of his hands are verity and judgement The acts of God are verity that is God acts his own truths As the works of our hands ought to be the verity and judgements of God every action of a Christian should be one of Christs truths so it is exactly with God himselfe the works of his hands are his owne verity and judgements When we cannot finde the meaning of God in his Word we may finde it out in his works his works are a Comment an infallible Comment upon his Word Yet we must take this Caution the dealings of God in the surface and outward part of them appear sometimes contrary to his Word contrary unto his promise but they only appear so they are never so When a man reads a promise and finds much good stor'd up in it for the righteous and then looks upon the state of the righteous and seeth it full of evill here is a seeming contrariety between the Word and the Works of God but it is onely a seeming contrariety as we shall see somewhat further anon Therefore in that Psalme 111. 2. where he saith The works of God are verity and judgement he addes The works of God are sought out if you will have the verity or judgement that is in the works of God you must not only look upon the outside of them but you must seek them out studie them studie them as you studie the Scriptures and then you will finde out the meaning of them and see how exactly they square with every part of the Word Why doth Eliphaz send Job to experience the ground is this the works of God are like the Word of God therefore if thou canst not make it out by experience from his works thou canst hardly make it out as a Position from his Word that righteous persons are cut off Remember now I pray thee who ever perished being innocent or where were the righteous cut off Here are foure termes to be opened perished cut off innocent righteous We will consider first what we are to understand by perishing and by cutting off Secondly whom we are to understand by innocent and righteus persons And then apply the whole sentence by shewing wherein the truth of this proposition stands that a righteous man or an innocent person cannot perish or be cut off The word which we translate perished hath divers significations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First a returning to nothing an utter consumption which is to perish as a beast Psal 49. 20. the Holy Ghost describing a man who is not acquainted with God in his great estate compares him thus Man being in honour and not understanding sc the things of God becommeth like the beasts that perish not that he perisheth as a beast doth but he is like a perishing beast the similitude is not in perishing but in his qualities who perisheth he hath but such qualities he is upon the matter even of as grosse a temper as a perishing beast Secondly to perish signifies to dye The dissolution of man or the dis-union of soule and body Isay 57. 1. is thus
I have not only given him a being and a shape but I have put upon him all the perfections of nature yea and the perfections of grace the impressions of my speciall love and favour I have lifted him up to the top of all and so some render the word I have magnified or made him great I have exalted and set him upon the highest pinnacles of perfections and mountaines of holinesse Hence observe When God begins a worke he compleats and carries it through He doth not only Create and give a being Forme and give proportion but He doth or he makes giving beauty and exactnesse to his works Whether we consider the works of God as naturall civill or spirituall in this sense God doth them Deut. 32. 4. Moses speakes in generall concerning all the works of God He is a rock and his worke is perfect The works of Creation are admirable to the eye the works of Providence how often doe they fill the heart with admiration That which he spake to Samuel concerning the house of Ely is appliable both to his works of Mercy and of judgement When I begin I will also make an end 1 Sam. 3. 12. that is I will doe it fully there is nothing shall take me off or stay me in the mid-way I will not worke to halves I will also make an end And so it is in spirituals when once God hath begun he carries on his work of grace when once he hath laid the foundation stone of mercy he never leaves untill he hath set up the the top stone the highest stone of glory Hence the Apostles Heb. 12. entitles Christ The author and finisher of our faith that is the beginner and ender Alpha and Omega first and last about our faith It shall never be said of any work of God as Luk. 14. That he began to build but could not finish it And as he finishes so he beautifies all his works are full of order and comelinesse He doth his work exquisitely or as we say artificially yea those works that we look upon as full of confusion are full of order and those works in which we see no form or nothing but deformity even these will one day appear now they are admirable in beauty and comelinesse That which the Apostle speaks in his exhortation to Timothy 2 Tim. 2. 15. bidding him doe the work of an Evangelist bidding him shew himselfe a workman that needeth not to be ashamed is most true concerning the great God of Heaven and earth He shewes himselfe a workman or a worker that needeth not to be ashamed When he works he doth the work of a God He works like himselfe Man cannot so much as be suspected to have done such things The Name that is the wisdome power and goodness of God is written upon them in so faire and clear a letter that it must be said by way of assertion This hath God wrought And by way of admiration what hath God wrought Numb 23. 23. A man sc a meer naturall man beholding these things shall say verily he is a God that judgeth the earth Psal 58. 11. Man cannot judge or doe like this The Lord needs not engrave or subscribe his Name to his works His words like so many Capitall letters spell and like so many Heraulds proclaime his Name Which doth great things To passe from the act or manner of doing we will consider the object He doth great things Some men with a great deal of paines doe nothing and others with a great deal of art doe a thing of nothing a trifle a toy a meere fancy at least some mean or inferiour work takes up their time skill and study But when God goes to work we may expect a noble work He doth great things The works of GOD answer the stile or Attributes of God He is a great God and His are great works The works of God speak a God And here are foure things spoken in this one verse of the works of God which speak aloud This is the finger of God I will first bundle them together and then both take and weigh them asunder He doth First Great things Secondly Vnsearchable Thirdly Wonderfull Fourthly Innumerable or without number No works of man or Angel are capable of such a foure-fold stampe as this no nor any one work of all the creatures put together could ever be stamped with any one of these characters in any comparison with the works of God Some in a sense have done great things but none have done things unsearchable Man may fathome the works of man his closest wayes are not past finding out As there was never any thing made so strong by the strength of man but there was some other strength in man that could match yea overthrow it so there was never any thing so wisely so artificially or mysteriously contrived by the skill knowledge and deepest understanding of a man but that the skill knowledge and understanding of another man hath or might have ridled and searcht it out The works of most men are wrought above ground and their intentions flote and swimme upon the face of their actions And although some as the Prophet speakes Isa 29. worke deepe to hide their counsels as they hope not only from men but from God yet God gives other men a light to discover the very lowest hell of those counsels even all the depths of Satan The master-Engineere of those mines and subterranean contrivances Further Though some men doe that which makes other men especialy fooles or men weake in knowledge wonder yet no Thaumaturgas or wonder-worker ever did that which makes all men wonder Or if it should be granted that any have done things great unsearchable wonderfull yet I am sure none have done these things without number one great unsearchable wonderfull work is taske enough for one mans life And a little skill in numbers will serve the turne to cast up and give us the totall summe and number of all the works of all men which deservedly beare as mans may the title and superscription of great unsearchable wonderfull More distinctly First He doth great things There is a greatnes upon every thing God doth The great God leaves as it were the print of his own greatnesse even upon those things which we accont little little works of nature have a greatnesse in them considered as done by God and little works of providence have a greatnesse in them considered as done by God If the thing which God doth be not great in it selfe yet it is great because he doth it As there is no sin of man little in it selfe though comparatively it be because committed against a great God So there is no work of God little though comparitively it be because acted by the great God Further if God doth a thing which in it selfe considered or considered according to the line and rule of the creature is unjust yet because God doth it or commands it to be done his very doing
of time to make Heaven and earth and will it not be a great work to shake Heaven and earth That God hath said he will doe before the end of time Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land Hag. 2. 6. The words following seem to interpret this earthquake and Heaven-quake I will shake all Nations Againe It was a great work to make the old Heaven and earth and will it not be a great work to make a new Heaven and a new earth That is the businesse which God is about in these letter days as he promised Isa 65. 17. Behold I create a new heaven and a new earth what is that Jerusalem a praise and her people a joy When God reformeth the face of his Church and settles the affaires of Kingdomes and Common-wealths he makes new Heavens and a new Earth And if it be the property of God to doe great things then it is a duty in us to expect great things We ought to look for such things as come up to and answer the power and greatness of God we dishonour and as it were humble God when we look onely for low and meane things Great expectations from God honour the greatnesse of God As the Lord expects to receive the greatest services from us because he is a great King Mal. 1. 14. So we ought to expect that we shall receive the greatest mercies from the Lord because he is a great King It dishonours God as much and more when we believe little as when we doe little A great King thinks himselfe dishonoured if you aske him a petty suite he looks more what becomes him to give or doe in bounty then the petitioner to aske in necessity The Great Alexander could tell his suiter whom he had more astonisht then relieved with his favour That though the thing might be too great for him to receive yet it was not too great for Alexander to give If dust and ashes can speake and think at this rate O how large is the heart of God! Then it is not onely our priviledge but our duty to aske and believe great things we ought to have a great faith because God doth great things Is it becomming to have a great God and a little faith To have a God that doth great things and we to be a people his people that cannot believe great things nay To have a God who can easily doe great things and we a people that can hardly believe small things How unbecoming if some small thing be to be done then usually faith is upon the wing but if it be a great thing then faith is clogg'd her wings are clipt and we at a stand why should it be said unto us as Christ said unto his Disciples O ye of little faith It may be as dangerous to us if not as sinfull not to believe the day of great things as to despise the â—ay of small things Why should not our faith in a holy scorne baffle the greatest difficulties in that language of the Prophet Zech. 4. 7. Who art thou O great Mountaine before Zerubbabell thou shalt become a plaine There is another usefull consequence from this truth He that doth great works ought to have great praises As we ought to have great faith that he will doe great things so he ought to have great acknowledgments when he hath done great things Shall God doe great things for us and shall we give him some poor leane starven sacrifices of praise It is very observable that as soon as the Prophet had described the Lord in his greatnesse Isa 40. 15. he adds in the very next verse And Lebanon is not sufficient to burne nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt Offering That is no services are great enough for this great God Lebanon abounded in spices for Incense and perfume it abounded with cattell for Sacrifice and burnt offerings To say that Lebanon had not spice enough to burne for incense nor beasts enough to burne for Sacrifice shews the Lord far exalted in greatnesse above all the praises and holy services of his people Lastly seeing God doth great works for us let us shew great zeale for great love unto the Lord. We should aime at the doing of great things for God seeing God indeed doth great things for us So much of the first Attribute of the works of God Who doth great things And unsearchable The Hebrew is and no search The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports the search of those things which are most abstruce and secret As the heart which the Lord onely can search Jer. 17. 15. The heart lies too low not onely for the eye but for the understanding of man Hence it is used Psal 95. 4. to note the Foundations or deep places of the earth because they cannot be known but by deep searchings or rather because they are beyond the deepest Penetralia terrae ut Aben Ezra explicat quae sciâ—i nequeunt nisi exquisita per scrutatione vel potiùs quòd homini minimè sunt perscutabilia Deo autuÌ„ in prepatulo Buxtorf search of man And the same phrase we find Psal 145. 3. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatnesse is unsearchable or according to the letter of his greatnesse no search as when the Psalmist speaks of the greatnesse of God in his nature and essence presently he adds and of his greatnesse there is no search so here when Eliphaz speaks of the greatnesse of God in his works the next word is they are unsearchable As God in himselfe is great and of his greatnesse there is no search so many of the works of God are so great that of their greatnes there is no search that is you cannot find out their greatnesse by any search God is in working and so are men the hand cannot act beyond the head as he is in understanding There is no searching of his understanding Isa 40. 28. Therefore there is none of his working This unsearchablenesse of the works of God may be considered two wayes 1. As that which cannot be found by enquirie 2. As that which ought not to be found or enquired There are some works of God which are not to be searched into Arcana imperij they are to be adored by believing not to be pryed into by searching and in that sence they are called unsearchable Rom. 11. 33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdome of and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements Many of his judgements that is his works of judgement are so unsearchable that it is not industry or duty but presumption to search into them As those unspeakable words which Paul heard in the third heavens were such as 2 Cor. 12. 4. is not lawfull for a man to utter so unsearchable judgements may be interpreted such as is not lawfull for a man to search Great Princes will
inusitatissimis raâ—â—ssimisque majora sunt August l. 5. de Civ Dei cap 12. One of the Ancients discoursing upon that miracle in the Gospell The multiplying the loaves observeth that in naturall things there are very great wonders though we lightly passe them by They were astonished to see the loaves multiplying while they were eating To see bread grow upon the Table or between their Teeth made all wonder but there is as great a miracle wrought every yeare and no man takes notice of it That is when Corne cast into the ground multiplies thirty sixty a hundred-fold It is saith he a greater miracle for corne to multiply in the earth then for loaves to multiply on the Table And he makes a like Conclusion in his Booke of the City of God Whatsoever is wonderfull in the world is not so great a wonder as the world Yet men rarely wonder at the making of the world the Earth the Heavens the Sea the Aire every creature in them exceed in wonders the things we wonder at Ordinary works of Nature are marvellous First because they proceed from a divine power 2. Because man is posed to give a reason of most of them Canst thou tell how the bones grow in her that is with child saith the Preacher The bringing of an Infant alive from the Wombe is a wonder as well as the raising of a man from the dead And the budding of a Tree as well as the budding of Aarons Rod †Per multa sunt quae admirari nonsolemus propterea quod vulgo quotidieque fiunt Renova in solita commovetur animus The usualnesse of the one and the rarenesse of the other is though not the only yet the greatest difference And as the ordinary workes of Creation in making so of Providence in governing the world are full of wonders though they passe unobserved Such Eliphaz takes notice of in the words following The disappointing of craftie oppressors and the deliverance of the poore When God shall destroy Babylon the Song prepared is Great and wonderfull are thy works and Exod. 15. 11. from whence that is taken Who is like unto thee O God! Who is like unto thee glorious in holinesse fearefull in praises doing wonders The wonder was a deliverance the wonderfull deliverance of his people from Egypt and through the red Sea Works of judgement are often called works of wonder Deut 28. 59. I will make thy plagues wonderfull and Isa 28. 21. The Lord shall rise up as in Meunt Perazim he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon that he may doe his worke his strange worke and bring to passe his act bis strange act What act was this An act of judgement upon his and his peoples enemies as is clear 2 Sa. 5. 20. and Josh 10. 12. where we may reade what God did in Mount Perazim and in the valley of Gibeon strange works indeed And these works of God are called marvellous not onely when God is in them alone and acts without the intervention of the creature but when he act with the creature above the strength of a creature so that little of the creature appeares in the act this also is a marvell What God doth more by a man then man can doe whether in strength or wisdome ordinarily assisted so much of a wonder shewes it selfe in what man doth And therefore no man is ordinarily to attempt any thing beyond his strength for that is to tempt God and call him to worke a miracle at least a wonder for us Lord saith David Psal 131. 1. Mine heart is not Non mae exâ—uli ad ea quae maeas vires aut ingenium suâ—eraret Eleganter Thâ—odoretus Meipsum meâ—â—ebaâ— quae me excedunt non aggrossus sum haughty nor mine eyes loftie neither doe I exercise my selfe in great matters or in things too high for me The word is in things too wonderfull for me that is I doe not ordinarily put my selfe upon things which are extraordinary or beyond my strength and parts I measure-my undertakings and my abilities together and would keepe them even I doe not put God upon doing wonders every day therefore I set my selfe to those things which are according to the line of man If God call us to it we may expect a miracle but we must not call God to worke miracles for us or with us I doe not exercise my selfe in matters too high for me Miracles or marvels are not every dayes exercise We ought rather to be above our worke or any of our designes then below them but we must be sure they are not above us It is the safest and holiest way for man in all his actions to be upon a levell We cannot but displease God and hurt our selves by clambering It is but sometimes that rhe Lord will work wonders to releeve our necessities and help our faith but he will never unlesse in wrath work wonders to please our humors or comply with our ambition Hence observe First When we see marvels done we must acknowledgc the hand of God Marvels are proper unto God Psal 75. 1. In that thy Name is neere thy wonderous works declare Wonderous works are an argument that God is neere When wonders are among us we may know who is among us and if so then this is a time wherein God is seene among us We may well apply that of the Psalmist to our selves Marvellous things hath the Lord done in our sight in Ireland and in the Fields of England Psal 78. 12. Mervails are rare things things seldome done or seene We have things amongst us which were never done or seene before in our Nation A Parliament which cannot be legally dissolved but by its own Vote An Assembly where neither Diocesan Bishops nor Deane as such can Vote The three Kingdomes of England Scotland and Ireland entred into a solemn Covenant approved by the Assemblies and authorized by the Parliaments of two Kingdomes May we not conclude of these in the language of the Prophet Who hath heard such a thing who hath seen such things Isay 66. 8 Surely we may say as Moses to Israel Deut. 4. 34. Hath God assayed to goe and take him a Nation from the middest of another Nation by temptation by signes and by wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arme and by great terrors according to all that the Lord our God doth for us in England before our eyes To take a Nation out of the midst of a Nation is our case If England finding as now it doth her children strugling in her wombe should goe enquire of the Lord as Rebecca did Gen. 25. 22. why is it thus The Lord may answere as he did to her Two Nations are in thy wombe and two manner of people shall be separated frem thee A Nation fearing God and a Nation blaspheming God a Nation seeking Reformation and a Nation opposing Reformation Secondly If God work mervailes and we believe him not
As the Lord liveth there shall not be dew nor raine these yeares but according to my word But the Apostle James shews us what word this was namely a word of prayer not of command Chap. 5. 17. Elias prayed and it rained not againe he prayed and it rained All the power of man cannot prevaile with the heavens to raine but the prayer of faith can prevaile with the God of heaven To send raine was the worke of God though it were at the word of a man They who denie God in one worke will quickly denie him in another And if we deny him in lesser yea the least of his works in a drop of raine we are in danger to deny him in the greater And they who denie God in his working have but an easie step to the deniall of his being This should teach us to walke in dependance upon God for all naturall comforts He giveth raine All creatures drinke from Heaven that they may have their eyes and their hearts in Heaven And if we must walk in dependance upon God for naturall comforts how much more for spirituall if for the rain of the clouds how much more for the dews of his Spirit and the rain of grace upon our hearts Further observe It is a great wonderfull and unsearchable worke of God to send raine For we must put the stampe of those foure characters upon all these workes And so raine is a great a wonderfull and an unsearchable worke of God so great and wonderfull that as hath bin proved no creature can communicate with God or share in the honour of this worke The Rabbins have a saying that upon every apex or Tittle of the Law their hangs a mountaine of sence and holy Doctrine We may say that in every drop of raine there is an ocean of wisedome of power of goodnes and of bounty If we study the ordinary In ea mira Dei in suas creaturas spectaâ—ur benignitas clemenâ—iae simul potentia undè passim Propheâ—e praesertim in hoc libâ—o quandò socij Job aut Job ipse admiranda Dei opera prâ—ponunt pluviam inter ea primo loâ—o ponunt Merc. workes of God we shall learne somewhat extraordinary in them common things are ful of wonder and among all common things none fuller of wonders then the raine To illustrate this a little in some particular considerations First There is marvellous power seen in causing and giving raine Is it not marvellous power which raises the vapours and holds as we may so speake A sea of water above the earth That such mighty seas and floods of water hang in the ayre and thence are distill'd and sprinkled downe as Job speakes in small drops are acts and arguments of the wonderfull power of God Secondly Behold in the raine the wonderfull goodnes of God who by this meanes cooles and refreshes nourishes and suckles all earthly living creatures When the ground is enapt and gapes as it were with open mouth the Lord opens these bottles and gives it drinke And a miracle of goodnes is seene in this forasmuch as when his very enemyes hunger he thus feeds them when they are naked he thus cloaths them when they thirst he thus gives them drinke Mat. 5. 45. He sendeth raine upon the just and upon the unjust They are maintained in life by the goodnesse of God whose lives maintaine a continuall warr against his justice And as there is a wonder of goodnesse in giving rain for the use of evill men So there is a wonder of bounty in sending raine upon those places which are not of use to any man he sendeth waters upon the fields that is all over the world Hence when Elihu would set forth the marvellous power and bounty of God he exemplifies it in this Job 38. 25. Who hath devided a water course for the overstowing of waters to cause it to raine on the earth whereno man is and on the wildernes where there is no man Such an open and bountifull house doth the Lord of Heaven and earth keep that rather then any shall want he will in a sence let the water runne wast God will not have so much as an herbe or a plant to want though there be no man to come there yet the grasse and shrubs shall have drinke and tast of his bounty And so legible is that goodnes of God which is written with drops of rain so wonderfull his power and bounty in giving rain that the Prophet wonders at the stupidity of those men who are not convinced of and taught obedience by it They have not said let us fear the Lord that giveth the first and the latter raine in his season Jer. 5. 24. As if he should say what a strange thing is it that sweet showers of raine have not softened the hearts of men into the feare of God and made them blossome with and bring forth abundantly the fruits of holines Hereupon it is very remarkeable how Moses makes this a motive to perswade the children of Israel to obedience in Canaan because that country stood in much need of raine which Egypt from whence they came did not Deut. 11. Therefore shall ye keepe all the Commandements which I command you this day ver 8. For the land whither thou goest in to possesse it is not like the land of Egypt from whence ye came out where thou sowest thy seed and wateredst it with thy foot like a garden of herbes That is Egypt being a flat plaine country all upon a levell when the Land wanted moysture thou didst not stay for or depend upon the raine to moisten it but with thy foot thou diggedst draines and madest sluces or water-courses from the river side meaning Nilus that famous river which ran quite through Egypt and that refreshed thy lands and made them fruitfull But Canaan is another kind of Country vers 11 12. the Land whether thou goest in to possesse it is a Land of hils and valleyes and drinketh water of the raine of Heaven A land which the Lord thy God careth for his eyes are upon it c. As if he had said Canaan is not a country capable of being water'd by the foot it is so mountanous and uneven All the labour of hand or foot cannot bring the streams upwards to give thy thirstie land drinke it must drinke from heaven or be burnt up and parcht with thirst and if so then that must be the Lords care his eye must observe when tbou wantest raine his hand must make water-courses in the heavens and open the sluces and cataracts of the clouds for thee And wilt thou not serve this God in duty who in bounty thus serveth thee and gives thee such a sensible evidence of his care over thee The Apostle Paul preaches this to the Gentiles as Naturall Theologie to leave them inexcusable Though he suffered all Nations to walke in their owne wayes in that he gave them not either the light or restraint of
to live when he dies or he is at the end of his naturall race before he hath set one step in his spiritual Gray haires are the shame and should be the sorrow of old-age when they are not found in the way of righteousnesse From the former branch of this verse observe First To have a comely buriall to come to the grave with honour is a great blessing It was threatned upon Jehojakim the sonne of Josiah as a curse That he should have the buriall of an Asse and be drag'd and cast out beyond the gates of the City Jer. 22. 19. That man surely had lived like a beast whom God threatn'd by name that when he died he should be used as a beast though we know the bodies of many of the servants of God have been scattered and may be scattered upon the face of the earth like dung The dead bodies as the complaint is Psal 79. 2. of thy servants have they given to be meat to the fowles of the heaven the flesh of thy Saints to the beasts of the earth Yet to them even then there is this blessing reserved beyond the blessing of a buriall they are ever laid up in the heart of God he takes care of them he embalmes them for immortality when the remains of their mortality are troden under foot or rot upon a dunghill Secondly observe A godly man is a volunteer in his death He commeth to the grave A wicked man never dies willingly Though he sometime die by his own hand yet he never dies with his own will Miserable man is sometimes so over-prest with terrours and horrours of conscience so worne out with the trouble of living that he hastens his own death Yet he Comes not to his grave willingly but is drag'd by necessity He thrusts his life out of doores with a violent hand but it never goes out with a cheerfull mind He is often unwilling to live but he is never willing to die Death is welcome to him because life is a burden to him Only they come to the grave who by faith have seene Christ lying in the grave and perfuming that house of corruption with his owne most precious body which saw no corruption Observe thirdly To live long and to die in a full age is a great blessing Old Eli had this curse pronounced upon his family 1 Sam. 2. 31. There shall not be an old man in thy house Gray haires are a crown of honour when they are found in the way of righteousnesse It is indeed infinitely better to be full of grace than to be full of daies but to be full of daies and full of grace too what a venerable spectacle is that To be full of years and full of faith full of good workes full of the fruits of righteousnesse which are by Christ How comely and beautifull beyond all the beauty and comelinesse of youth is that Such are truly said to have filled their daies Those daies are fill'd indeed which are full of goodnesse When a wicked man dies he ever dies emptie and hungrie he dies empty of goodnesse and he dies hungry after daies That place before mentioned of Abraham Gen. 25. 8. is most worthy our second thoughts He dies in a good old-age an old man and full so the Hebrew we reade full of years As a man that hath eaten and drunke plentifully is full and desires no more So he dyed an old-man and full that is he had lived as much as he desired to live he had his fill of living when he died And therefore also it may be called a full age because a godly man hath his fill of living but a wicked man let him live never so long is never full of daies never full of living he is as hungry and as thirsty as a man may speake after more time and daies when he is old as he was when he was a child faine he would live hill He must needs thinke it is good being here who knowes of no better being or hath Impij quamvis diu vivant tamen non implent dies suos quia spem in rehus temporarijs collocantes perpetua vita in hoc mundo peâ—frui vellent no hopes of a better It is a certaine truth He that hath not a tast of eternity can never be satisfied with time He that hath not some hold of everlasting life is never pleased to let goe this life therefore he is never full of this life It is a most sad thing to see an old man who hath no strength of body to live yet have a strong mind to live Abraham was old and full he desired not a day or an houre longer His soul had never an empty corner for time when he died He had enough of all but of which he could never have enough and yet had enough and all as soon as he had any of it eternity In that great restitution promised Isa 65. 20. this is one priviledge There shall be no more there an infant of daies nor an old man that hath not fil'd his daies There is much controversie about the meaning of those words The digression would be too long to insist upon them Only to the present point thus much that there is such a thing as an Infant of daies and an old man that hath not fill'd his daies An infant of daies may be taken for an old child that is an old man childish or a man of many years but few abilities A man whose hoary head ann wrinkled face speak fourscoure yet his foolish actions and simple carriage speake under fourteene An old man that hath not fill'd his daies is conceived to be the same man in a different character An old man fils not his dayes First When he fulfils not the duty nor reaches the end for which he lived to old-age That man who hath lived long and done little hath left empty daies upon the record of his life And when you have writ downe the daies the months and yeares of his life his storie 's done the rest of the book is but a continued Blanke nothing to be remembred that he hath done or nothing worth the remembrance Now as an old man fils not his daies when he satisfies not the expectation of others so in the second place his daies are not fill'd when his own expectations are not satisfied that is when he having lived to be old hath yet young fresh desires to live when he finds his mind empty though his body be so full of daies that it can hold no longer nor no more He that is in this sense an infant of dayes and an old man not having filled his dayes though he be an hundred yeares old when he dies yet he dies as the Prophet concludes in that place accursed he comes not to his grave under the blessing of this promise in the text in a full age Lastly observe Every thing is beautifull in its season He shall come to his grave like a
654. Marvellous things what p. 249. They are separated from man three wayes ib. Ordinary works of nature and providence are marvellous in two respects 251. Marvels are a token of Gods presence 253. Many marvels wrought in our dayes ib. Marvels should work faith in us ib. 254. Christ will wonder at our unbelief if we beleeve not when he doth wonders 254. Mass a Popish conceit about the Name of it p. 489. Memory and to remember what p. 33. The Works of God are to be remembred ibid. Mercy A three-fold mercy in God p. 460. Mercy of God most moved towards us by telling him our misery 609. Miracles Signs and Marvels how they differ p. 250 251. Morning To do a thing in the morning and every morning what they import p. 667 723. Moth How man is crushed as a moth a three-fold meaning of it p. 152 153. Mourners described p. 266. Such nearest joy and exaltation 268. Murmuring or complaining To murmur at the dealings of God is to make our selves juster than God 123. complain to God but not of God 124. Musing men no great talkers p. 527. N NOstril of God what meant by it pag. 56. Numbers Three six and seven how used in Scripture 337 338. Twice and thrice three and four six and seven seven eight what they signifie in Scripture 339 340. O OLd-age a full old-age what 390 391. A perishign old-age a flourishing old-age 392. A godly man ever dies in a full age 394. A blessing to live to Old-age 395. Oppression To oppress the poor and fatherless a grievous sin p. 549. P PAssion carries us out of our selves p. 556. Pardon of sin God only can do it p. 713. Why pardoning or remitting sin is committed to men in what sence 714 715. How pardon of sin is expressed in Scripture 715 716. When sin is pardoned the punishment of sin is also pardoned 717. Greatest sins pardonable 718. They whose sins are pardoned may and ought to pray for pardon 719. In two cases prayer for pardon is especially to be renewed p. 712. Peace with beasts how p. 378. When God is at peace with us he can quickly make all Creatures at peace with us 379. Peace a great mercy 380 383. Perishing or to perish taken five wayes in Scripture p. 35 36. How righteous persons may or cannot perish p. 38 c. Persisting in evil most dangerous p. 557. Pity what it is p. 490 c. It is a duty to pity the distressed 494. Plowing of iniquity c. p. 44. Plowing referr'd to good actions p. 45. Poor Some Gods poor and some the Devils poor p. 297. Poor are full of desires because full of wants 298. Poor most subject to oppression 301. Wicked men plot against the people of God how poor soever and why 301. God delights to help the poor 302. Poor must take heed of greedy seeking the creatures 522. Poor that are modest in asking should be soonest supplied 522. Prayer Some wicked men thrust out of the prayers of Gods people p. 192. A dreadful thing to be so 193. Prayer is the putting of our case to God 228. They who pray much expect much 452. God often keeps prayer by him unanswered 453. The return of prayer is the solace of the soul 453. Presence of God two-fold p. 671. God can make his own presence grievous to us 673. Preservation of man the work of God p. 692. Man wants a preserver and why 693. How God is a preserver 694. A necessity that God should be mans preserver 695. He preserves his own people in a special manner and why 696. His preserving care is perpetual 697. Pride grows in the best soyl 117. God resists the persons of the proud and he will resist pride in his best friends p. 118. Pride in apparel and beauty p. 596 597. Probability of finding is ground enough for seeking 507. Promises are the portion of Beleevers p. 403. Providence the common blessing of God not dispenced without a special providence p. 260 261. Providence watches over all creatures most over such as are hurtful to man p. 627. Prudence goes softly p. 292. Punishment may come long after the sin p. 49. It shall be proportionable to the degrees of sin 50. It shall not exceed the desert of sin ibid. It is often like the sin in kind 51. The strongest sinner shall not escape punishment 65. Punishment is gradual 66. Reasons why the Lord suspends punishment 69. Wicked punish'd by those whom they have oppressed 204 206. God can punish the strongest by the weakest instruments 207. Q Quections in Scriture sometime heighten the sence and sometime abate it p. 649. R RAin the benefit of it p. 259. 260. How it is a special gift of God 261. It is a wonderful work of God to send raine 262. The giving of raine a motive to fruitful obedience and a conviction of the disobedient 263 264. Raine of Doctrine 523. Reason is the souls taster pag. 562. Redemption what it is p. 341 521 Remembring what it imports when ascribed to God p. 602. Reproof must be sweeten'd with friendly insinuations p. 6. It is no easie thing to bear a reproof 7. in some cases we must reproove whether men take it well or no ibid. Returning what it imports in Scripture p. 554. Return return what it imports 555. Reward every man shall have a reward p. 577. Riches wordly men very careful to secure their riches p. 209. Ill gotten riches cannot be secured 210. Riches why called strength 213. Righteous men so called in a four-fold sence p. 37 38. S SAints what a Saint is p. 173. It is our duty to look upon and imitate the examples of the Saints 175. When God forsakes a man the Saints on earth forsake him too 177. Salvation or safety is of the Lord p. 300. Salt in our speech what p. 442. Ministers of the Gospel why called Salt 449. Sanctifie how man sanctifies God 473. Sand of the sea applied three wayes in Scripture p. 419. Satisfaction for sin cannot be made by man p. 688. A threefold deficiency in all our works for that end 689. Scandal what 546. Scourge of the tongue vide Tongue Sea three things in it most considerable p. 624. How like man in his natural condition 628. Especially to covetous oppressors 629 Season every thing even pale death is beautiful in it 397 Seeking implies four things p. 227. We must seek God especially in times of affliction 230 Sence of want carries us to loâ—k for a remedy p. 507. Shame how caused p. 511. Shaddai One of the names of God what it signifies p. 327 328. Shadow How taken in Scripture p. 580. Sheol How taken in Scripture p. 615. Shekel Whence so called it 's use p. 411. Shiggaion What it means p. 532. Sight of the eye much comfort comes in by it p. 606 607. Silence or stopping of the mouth caused two wayes p. 307. Mouths of wicked men stopt two wayes 308 Silence becomes learners 529. Sin